Emmaus native Dane DeHaan, star of 'Lawless,' is a hot commodity in Hollywood

Emmaus native Dane DeHaan is a hot commodity in Hollywood. He's working and hanging with fellow 20-something megastars Daniel Radcliffe and Shia LeBeouf, his co-star in 'Lawless.'

August 23, 2012|By Amy Longsdorf, Special to The Morning Call

"The characters have known each other their whole lives and that's a hard thing to act," says DeHaan. "I have to actually get to know the person. And Shia felt the same way."

The actors took a southerly route, stopping for dinner at a Shreveport, La., gumbo joint on Valentine's Day. LaBeouf was recognized at nearly every stop along the way.

"Shia couldn't even run into a gas station to go to the bathroom without someone going, 'Hey wait a minute, aren't you …?'"

DeHaan's other recent co-star and new buddy Daniel Radcliffe also is a magnet for film fans. "He practically lives his whole life behind doors or in cars."

DeHaan might not have achieved the level of stardom of LaBeouf or Radcliffe but in the five short months since "Chronicle" was released, the actor has noticed changes in how he's perceived in Hollywood.

"[The success of 'Chronicle'] gave me permission to say no," says DeHaan. "I believe that if I fight the good fight, good projects will come along. I don't have to take the next 'Twilight' movie out of desperation. I can wait until something I really believe in comes along.

"[The biggest difference] is that I've been able to be involved in movies that I believe in from the ground up. I have a whole bunch of scripts that I'm attached to star in. They're still in development. That certainly didn't exist before the success of 'Chronicle.' It made me a certifiable business entity.

"A movie doesn't have to be already going and I don't have to audition for it. Now, it's, like, 'we can find funding for this movie based off your previous box-office success.' It's totally amazing."

It's been barely eight years since the actor was roaming around Allentown eating at Yocco's, hiking on South Mountain and hitting the links.

"Growing up, I played Indian Creek [in Emmaus] but I don't think that course is there anymore," says DeHaan, who is nearly as passionate about golf as he is about acting. "I played Butter Valley a lot and there's a small airport runway running through it, which was always fun.

"I can't believe that Center Valley is shutting down. That's terrible. I played the Saucon Valley Country Club course, which is amazing. That's probably the nicest course I've played. But I grew up always playing public courses like Allentown Muni, which can be challenging. If you play from the back tees, it's a pretty long, challenging course."

Asked what he misses most about his hometown, he mentions the sense of community he felt while he was performing in countless productions at Civic Theatre, Theater Outlet and the Stage Door Workshop.

"There's something really beautiful about community theater," he says. "It becomes your family, in a way. You have such support. That isn't necessarily the case in the professional world. I grew up in Allentown, so I always think of it as a very safe place."

DeHaan can't remember a time when he wasn't "obsessed" with performing. He attended Emmaus High School for three years before he switched to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for his senior year. He stayed in North Carolina for college, and a mere three weeks after graduation landed his first professional job on "Law and Order: SVU."

He made his off-Broadway stage debut in "American Buffalo" and followed it up with an Obie-winning role in "The Aliens." From there, DeHaan played the role of a disturbed teenager on HBO's "In Treatment."

DeHaan's performance drew raves from Variety, which described it as a "revelatory breakthrough." So well-received was his "In Treatment" turn that filmmakers of the caliber of John Sayles, John Hillcoat, Atom Egoyan ("Sweet Hereafter") and Derek Cianfrance ("Blue Valentine") started calling.

Even Metallica's Lars Ulrich, of all people, is a DeHaan fan. After checking out "Chronicle" with his teenage son, the heavy metal drummer asked DeHaan to appear in an upcoming 3-D movie that the band is hoping will stack up favorably alongside Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

"It was way too cool an opportunity to say no to," says DeHaan. "It was, like, 'Dude, do you want to go to Vancouver and spend three weeks with Metallica?' It's going to be total Metallica chaos. I get to do a bunch of stunts. I think it's going to be so much fun."

Of all his recent good fortune, DeHaan considers his recent marriage to high-school sweetie Anna Wood to be the highlight. The pair became serious in North Carolina and have been together ever since.

"Anna and I are so lucky because we met each other before all this madness began," he says. "She knows who I really am and I know who she really is. She's my rock.

"It's hard to trust new people. For me to have somebody I can count on, who I fell in love with before any of this success, it's just an unbelievable gift."